I couldn't find out what chemical is in the Tetra product. I guess the UK doesn't require a MSDS like the US does. It is very curious why they would want a chemical that had to be activated by a UV filter. There's no logical reason that I can think of. I assume it's a marketing that. A UV can be involved in reduction of organics, but no reason for the chemical to have to be changed by the UV.

It's strange for a well to have high enough organic matter to be enough to cause foam. A normal pond produces lots of these organic compounds. Bogs, plants, bottom that isn't kept clean.

I don't know what chemical Foam-b-Gone uses but the anti-foam chemicals I know of don't last forever, they don't really remove the stuff causing foam. They bind to the stuff which then makes removal possible. But with ponds there normally isn't any such removal so after awhile the chemical breaks down and the stuff is released to cause foam again.

The easiest long term way to remove foam causing stuff is to build a foam fractionator (aka protein skimmer). Pretty easy build. Lots of instructions via Google.

I dislike any foam on the water so I use a waterfall basin.
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In use it looks like this:
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It keeps the foam trapped, acts as foam fractionator to some degree. If there is a foam issue I can scoop out some foam. A standalone foam fractionator removes the foam automatically.

The stuff causing foam can be reduced by adding an oxidizer. This actually removes some of the stuff that causes foam, and also makes some stuff smaller. The stuff that causes foam is pretty strange, it's not really a specific substance, it's a size. When a leaf decomposes it breaks into smaller and smaller bits until all that left are elements, hydrogen, oxygen, etc. There's a window when these bits are a certain size that they act like soap and cause foam. As these bits continue to decay they get smaller and stop acting like soap. Still in the pond, but just no longer causing foam.

So, in addition to trying to remove this certain size bits of crud you can also try to remove it when larger. For example, it's easier to remove a single leaf than it is to remove the billion of little bits the leaf decomposes into. Things like bog "filters" generate a lot of these little bits as the filter ages.

It can take several years for organics to break down into foam causing bits. Some stuff, like fish spawn, is already the right size for causing foam. Once a pond does start causing foam from decaying organics the process will continue because there's a lot of decay in the cycle continuously producing the stuff. That's normally when people start thinking about cleaning a pond. But I don't know how old your pond is.

hi waterbug, pond is about 20 years old, have only had foam for last 2 years, btw at same time ph has been high 8.5 to 9, i was adding ph down but i saw thread about just adding baking soda. i have 3 products microlift KH booster, microlift buffer/stabilizer and crystal clear SapHGuard, i would now think all 3 do about the same as baking soda. foam seems to have started just after i vacuumed, could that stir things up to make foam? thanks for your help

20 years old makes sense to me. Normally I expect ponds to start having foam issues after 4-10 years, but it depends on water changes, cleaning etc.

Stirring up the muck can create foam especially if you're using a venturi type vac rather than a vac that removes water. These tiny bits of decayed matter are really small, like bacteria size, so stirring up the bottom can get more suspended in the water.

If you've been using the well water this whole 20 years and only had foam the last 2 I would not consider the organics in the well water to be a factor. You would have had foam years ago. And that makes sense to me. It would be a pretty poor well to have that much organic matter.

You are right that virtually all pond products contain simple common ingredients. Baking soda we only use the carbonate part and the other parts, salt and CO2 go other places and is harmless. So some products might use other carbonate sources, whatever is cheaper for them. They also add other things but only to make it sound better. Like companies put gasoline additives into their product so they can advertise their product as being different and "better". Like Techron. Yes, on paper and in the lab Techron does keep an engine cleaner. In the real world the difference is zero.

I really don't like using pond products because they won't say what's in them. So I'd have to blindly dump them in and hope for the best. When things go south I have no idea what's in the pond and I'm totally lost and screwed. So I kept things simple. I add baking soda to keep KH up. I know exactly what I'm adding and what the side effects are. Simple.

thanks again waterbug, today i added 1/2 pound baking soda and added a 2lb. bag of charcoal to filter, KH was 20-30 ppm 1 day seems better, we will see, but i think i am off the bacteria, addatives cycle except for spring startup

Before raising KH I test for ammonia to be sure there isn't any. Raising KH normally raises pH and that would convert safe ammonia into toxic ammonia. I know your pH was 8-9 but sounded like that was before the pH down was added. When KH is 20-30 ppm I expect pH to be in the 6.5 to 7.5 range. Increasing KH to say 150-200 ppm should raise pH to the 8.5 to 9 range. So that could make a bigger difference in toxic ammonia if present.